York Theatre Royal

York Theatre Royal A hilariously funny and touching comedy of big expectations and very uncomfortable exercises.

Having a bun in the oven is no joke, so how come it’s so funny?

Midwife Sheila certainly knows all the joys, confusions and baffling indignities in store as she steers a group of four very different women safely through ante-n...atal class to labour and blissful motherhood. Happily unmarried teenager Jessica, with her cousin Janice’s bizarre birth superstitions always to hand, swaps life lessons with 40-year-old career woman and IVF patient Roshin, and old school friends Teresa and Kizzy. Meanwhile, Sheila’s well-meaning hubby Graham tries to sort out the world via DIY, causing more than one sticky moment and giving a man’s unique perspective on the whole crazy process.

Being “Up the Duff” isn’t all radiance and unmixed joy, and Lisa Evans provokes wry smiles as well as belly-laughs as Roshin asks: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what have we let ourselves in for?!”